Tea Time! & Crazy Healthy Carrot Cake

The Great British Bake-Off most definitely has been my favourite show of the year again. The suspense! The jokes! The water-mouthing showstoppers! I am already looking forward to the 'reunion' with Mary and Paul on the Christmas special to be aired on the 18th of December on BBC TWO. Camille, note it down ;)

Apparently I am not the only one who is such a fan of the show. The designer Meadham Kirchhoff said at the end of his spring/summer 2013 show: 'Thank you to the makers of the Great British Bake-Off...for providing me with the only glimpse of happiness I've experienced all year. So Vogue asked him to create his show-stopper:

Meadham Kirchoff Showstopper from UK Vogue January 2013

As it has been so cold, and I am embracing British traditions with Great Bake-Off inspiration, I decided to throw a (healthy) tea party! On the menu:

Sandwiches with 1) salmon and cream cheese 2) spinash, mustard and egg salad 3) ricotta and cucumber 4) roast beef, mixed salad leafs and pomegranate

Desserts included a healthy chocolate mousse, a healthy triffle and a crazy healthy carrot cake of whcih I am giving you the recipe below. If you want to have the recipes of the other desserts, just drop me a line in the comments box!

Tea Time

Roast Beeft, Mixed Salad Leaves and Pomegrenate

Crazy Healthy Carrot Cake

For my friend Emma who like healthy as much as I do, and for Evi who likes her Carrot Cake without raisins :)

Can I get another piece please?? ;)

As this cake really gets better after resting a night wrapped in its tin, I would advise you to make it the day before serving (trust me it will be so much more moist!), and only frosting it an hour or two before serving.

Serves 8 to 10

Preparation time: 90 to 110 minutes

Requires a 20 cm baking tin

Ingredients

For the cake

·         1 medium orange

·         2 tablespoons coconut oil

·         220g plain wholemeal flour

·         2 tablespoons baking powder, plus a pinch

·         1 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda

·         1 rounded tablespoon of ground cinnamon

·         Stevia to sweeten to taste

·         3 tablespoons of almond milk

·         280g finely grated carrots (about 375-400g carrots before peeling)

·         100g butternut squash (boiled and pureed)

·         3 eggs

For the frosting

·         100g 0% Greek yoghurt

·         200g light soft cheese

·         Stevia to sweeten to taste

·          1 medium orange

·         1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Method

Preparation

-  Start by preheating the oven at 160C.

-   Finely grate the carrots and the zest from the orange and squeeze in 3 tablespoons of juice.

-  Use half a tablespoon of coconut oil to line the base of a deep 20cm square cake tin.

Cake Mix

-  Mix the wholemeal flour with 2 tablespoons of baking powder, 1 tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda and the tablespoon of cinnamon.

-  Separate one of the eggs. Put the white in a small bowl and the yolk in a large one. Break the other two whole eggs in with the yolk, then tip in the stevia. Whisk together for 1-2 minutes until thick and foamy. Slowly pour in one and a half tablespoons of coconut oil and continue to whisk on a low speed until well mixed.

-  Tip in the flour mix, half at a time, and gently stir it into the egg mixture with a rubber spatula or big spoon. The mix will be quite stiff. (Really, don’t be alarmed as it is quite hard to continue stirring but it will get better once you add the other ingredients)

-  Mix in the carrot and zest mix as well as the butternut squash puree into the flour mixture.

-  Mix in the 3 tablespoons of almond milk

-  Put the extra pinch of baking powder in with the egg white and whisk to soft peaks. Gently fold in the whisked egg white, then pour into the cake mixture into the tin. Jiggle the tin to level the mixture.

-  Bake for 1 hour until risen and firm or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

-  Leave to cool in the tin for an hour, and then wrap the tin with foil for the moisture to stay in. Let the cake rest overnight before icing.

Frosting

-  To make the frosting, stir the soft cheese, stevia, orange zest and lemons juice together. Swirl the frosting over the cake and put the frosted cake into the refrigerator for an hour or two before serving.

Crazy Healthy Carrot Cake

Enjoy!!!